GREAT LINE:

Always ask yourself what we know about how the world works in fact.

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The trouble with trying to read books about contemporary philosophy is that way too many of them turn out to be blizzards of jargon and obscurity, deal with questions nobody needs to answer, are full of mistakes only a true aficionado could fail to notice, or all of the above. Searle beautifully avoids these problems as he explains and criticizes six contemporary accounts of the scientific question of how the brain manages to give us thinking. What conscious thinking is and how it works is a central question in contemporary psychology, biology, and medicine. Searle is an excellent guide through complex arguments, leading the reader forward with a minimum of jargon. No special knowledge of philosophy or science is required. And if Searle is on the wrong track or makes mistakes along the way, certainly any mistakes are not obvious. This is a difficult book, but it repays reading not just because you will come away with a better understanding of one the all-time great scientific questions, but because it gives you a chance to see how a subtle and ingenious thinker approaches a seemingly impossible problem.

Check the BPL catalog for this title: The Mystery of Consciousness